The red-headed stranger: My startling intro to taking woodpecker photos

I was walking down a trail with my camera on a cool October day when suddenly, out of nowhere, it happened. I came eye-to-eye with this pileated woodpecker who was perched on a low-hanging tree branch. Amazingly, we were only about 10 feet from each other, and to say that both of us were surprised would be an understatement.

This beautiful pileated woodpecker flew in for 3 quick cameo photos.

Time stood still for a moment as I looked at him, and he looked at me. Then the red-headed stranger decided he’d seen enough of my startled face, and decided to fly the coop.

Unfortunately, he was gone, gone, gone

His wings started flapping wildly, and in an instant, he launched himself into the air and flew over my head. At the same time, I was reaching for my camera (attached to a neck strap and turned to the “on” position), but the woodpecker was gone, gone, gone.

Oh well, I missed the shot, but at least I saw something that was pretty darn cool.

For me, it was the perfect pit stop But then, to my amazement, something totally unexpected happened. Rather than flying off into the distance, my new pileated pal made a brief pit stop on a decaying tree about 40 feet behind me.

As I turned around, I quickly raised up the camera, looked through the viewfinder, then click, click, click: Just three quick photos and he made his exit. The verdict is in, it’s not a crow with a wig When I got home to review the photos (my first ever of the pileated) on my computer, I wasn’t expecting much. But when I zoomed in on one of the photos a bit, I was able to come away with a headshot. The woodpecker’s face is partially obscured by the edges of the old tree (in the left-hand corner of the photo), but luckily the distinct golden ring around his black eye, combined with his colourful red crest ensure that this isn’t merely just a crow wearing a cheap red wig.

5 interesting facts about the pileated woodpecker Since my first memorable encounter with a pileated woodpecker, I've tried to learn more about them. Here's five tidbits: 1. Pileated woodpeckers are found in Canadian forests across the country. 2. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word pileum refers to the top of a bird’s head (from the bill to the nape). And the word pileated means having a crest covering the pileum. 3. Pileated woodpeckers like to chisel rectangular holes in trees. 4. Ants are a favourite food for pileated woodpeckers. 5. Pileated woodpeckers can peck up to 12,000 times per day.